NEWPORT NEWS, Va. -- Playing on a gorgeous, sunny day at the James T. and Sarah C. Eyre Courts on the campus of Christopher Newport University, the nationally-ranked women's tennis Captains advanced to the teams eighth consecutive conference championship match with a 5-2 win over #3-seed UC Santa Cruz (6-9). CNU senior
Kendra Womack clinched the semifinal victory with a hard-fought win at No. 5 singles.
Taking on the regionally-ranked Banana Slugs for the second straight year in the semifinals, the Captains won two doubles and three singles bouts to earn the title berth. CNU will face top-seeded and 18-time defending champion Mary Washington in Sunday morning's Coast-To-Coast Athletic Conference Championship at 11:00 a.m.
In doubles play, the Captains took a 2-1 lead with wins at 2 and 3.
Kendra Womack started her outstanding performance on the day with an 8-6 victory at No. 2 with partner
Megan Bauer. The CNU duo moved up to No. 2 for the first time this season and defeated Tanner Rowland and Meghana Damojipurapu for the clutch win.
At No. 3,
Anna Campbell and
Mia Linam raced out to a 1-0 lead for the Captains with an 8-1 win over Jolie Seemayer and Daniela Christian. The lone Banana Slugs win in doubles play came at No. 1, where Sara Backman and Natalie Sprenger defeated CNU's top tandem,
Tessa Trate and
Raine Weis.
Needing three wins in singles to clinch the tournament victory, the Captains got the first win quickly from veteran
Tessa Trate at No. 2. The regionally-ranked star pulled away from Sprenger for the straight set win (6-3, 6-2), giving Christopher Newport a 3-1 lead.
UC Santa Cruz bounced back with a win at No. 4, but
Raine Weis delivered a second-set tiebreak win at No. 1 in a matchup of regionally-ranked singles players to pull CNU within one of the win. Weis took on Backman, ranked No. 25 in the West region, and squeaked out a 7-5, 7-6 (5) win over her Banana Slugs counterpart.
That win would give CNU a 4-2 lead and set up the match-clinching victory from
Kendra Womack. Facing Daniela Christian at No. 5 singles, Womack earned a first-set tiebreak win 7-6 (3) before a back-and-forth second set that saw the home senior pull out a 7-5 win for the match. Womack picked up her third win of the season at No.5 and pulled even in her career tally with a 21-21 all-time record for CNU in singles play.
CNU and Mary Washington will match up for the conference title for the eight consecutive season. Earlier this season, the Captains fell to the Eagles, 6-3, in a battle of nationally-ranked teams. CNU earned wins at 2 doubles and 2 and 3 singles in the regular season matchup.
Live stats and a live video webcast will be available for the championship match at 11:00 am on Sunday. Due to heavy rain in the forecast, the match will be played indoors at the James River CC.
